Doubt play vs. movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Uncertainty play versus film - Essay Example As referenced before, Doubt is a story spinning around a nun’s hesitations about a priest’s sexual association with an African-American Altar kid. Sister Aloysius is the head religious woman and head of a catholic school called St. Nicholas. Father Flynn is another instructor at St. Nicholas; he has an amiable character and is profoundly lucid. The character list incorporates another individual from the personnel, Sister James; a susceptible and unpracticed educator; she is profoundly respectful. Accordingly when Sister Aloysius orders everybody to keep their eyes open for uncommon conduct, she is the first to presume Father Flynn. (Brantley, 2006) The fundamental wellspring of the doubt is activated when Sister James watches the closeness between Father Flynn and the main African American understudy Donald Muller. There are various different elements that in the long run lead her to validate her premonitions, for example, when Donald is brought by Father Flynn during S ister James’ class and when he returns, he appears to be disturbed and inebriated, lastly Sister James sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald’s storage, during a move exercise. Sister James trusts her doubt to Sister Aloysius, who later goes up against Father Flynn. Father Flynn gives a conceivable clarification that he had found Donald drinking and needed to assist him with getting over his drinking issue. Be that as it may, Sister Aloysius is as yet unsatisfied and chooses to converse with Donald Muller’s mother. Mrs. Muller appears to be totally undecided and asks Sister Aloysius not to seek after the issue any further. She specifies that Donald is at present adapting to his injurious dad and furthermore implies that it is a direct result of his sexual direction that causes Mr. Muller to pound Donald. She begs her to stay quiet and not make any move against Father Flynn and attempts to support their relationship, yet Sister Aloysius stays unyieldin g. Regardless of the way that she couldn't gather any hard proof against Father Flynn to prove her claim, she goes up against Father Flynn again and threatens to him to come clean with her or she will move toward her bosses. Father Flynn denies yet at long last capitulates to her requests and demands for an exchange when Sister Aloysius discloses to him that she called his past area and found plentiful measure of confirmations in regards to his questionable past. She disclosed to him that she realized he had changed a couple of areas as a result of wrongdoing; be that as it may, the subtleties of unfortunate behavior were not indicated and there are a few nuns, who are happy to affirm against him. (Brantley, 2006) The story closes with Father Flynn getting moved to an alternate school and Sister Aloysius trusting in Sister James that she didn't discover anything against him and her calling the specialists was a unimportant creation.. At long last, she separates in to tears and says, â€Å"I have doubts†¦ I have such doubts†. The film and play adjustment followed a similar plot and even the exchanges were close to verbatim; which shows the solid correspondence between both the play and the film. In any case, in the event of contrasts, there are innumerable contrasts however the progressions are just minor and unobtrusive and nothing also plot-adjusting. The most apparent contrast is the way that there are a bigger number of characters in the film than in the play. (Brantley, 2004) The portrayal of the story goes amiss from the typical four-character play by Mr.

Regulation of Smoking in US Public Housing

Guideline of Smoking in US Public Housing Sudhakar Ponugoti Conceptual This arrangement choice contains numerous critical general wellbeing proposals, given the difficulty of having smoke in multiunit lodging. Around 7 million individuals in United States are remains in broad daylight lodging, among 10 units 4 units controlled by families with kids. The reaction of Residents is next to no when they are available to tobacco smoke; besides, approach and planning among this locale are evolving In the ongoing years, because of expanded shopper request and raised wellbeing concerns lead proprietors made their lodging units smoke free. Also minor number of neighborhood bodies has restricted smoking in multifamily private structures. Anyway approaches of no smoking are uncommon in broad daylight lodging. Till now just 140 PHAs around the nation which tallies of just 4% of the absolute PHAs have expressed that they had restricted smoking in broad daylight lodging which they had embraced Techniques: By alluding the distributions identified with guideline of open lodging in U.S and diary of the New England diary of medication †â€Å"Regulation of Smoking in Public Housing† Through alluding distributers â€like smoking-end/wellbeing impacts used smoke and Diary of the New England diary of medication Watchwords: non-smokers, recycled smokers the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ,Public Housing Authorities (PHAs),health issue Reason: The fundamental reason for these research papers is about the guideline of smoking out in the open lodging in U.S which is making a few wellbeing suggestions non-smokers and the means taken by us national government Presentation: Impacts of recycled smoke: Breathing the smoke that inhaled out from the cigarette by a smoker is just about proportionate entirety When you take in the smoke that originates from the finish of a lit cigarette, belvedere, or funnel (side stream smoke) or the smoke that is inhaled out by a smoker (standard smoke), youre taking in for all intents and purposes indistinguishable proportion of synthetics from the smoker takes in. the smoke from tobacco holds in excess of 4,000 particular concoction gases, among them 50 are known to be cause ailment. These are essentially a few the synthetic concoctions that goes into your lungs when you are introduced to recycled smoke †¢Hydrogen cyanide an exceptionally harmful gas used inside manufactured weapons and irritation control †¢Benzene a piece of gas †¢Formaldehyde a mixture used to treat remains †¢Carbon monoxide a hurtful gas (WebMD, 2014). In 2006 the report by wellbeing specialist insisted that pre-owned smoking (also called programmed or inactive smoking) can prompts demise, and it contemplated that no part recycled smoke is protected and acceptable. Most introduction to second smoke drives body progressively helpless to more maladies. In Americans around 126 million nonsmoking individuals are available to used smoke at work and home. In U.S consistently very nearly 50,000 passings in grown-up nonsmokers are caused as a result of recycled smoke. Lung malignant growth plague expanded by 20% to 30% in nonsmokers and coronary illness by 25% to 30% when they breathe in the used smoke. It is evaluated that 3,000 passings every year in nonsmokers are because of lung ailments due to used smoke in nonsmokers Consistently About 46000 of nonsmokers pass on with coronary illness in view of who living with smokers. Around 300,000 kids who are underneath the age of year and a half experience the ill effects of used smoke; 7,500 to 15,000 of them must be analyzed (NCBI, 2010). Used smoke shows an incredible effect on wellbeing of on nonsmokers, principally like malignancy and coronary illness Malignant growth Malignant growth is the noteworthy and winning scourge which is of principle focus caused because of introduction to recycled smoke. Among this Lung disease is generally overall because of the impact of recycled smoke introduction and this liable for the reason for bosom malignant growth, cervical disease and various kinds of disease, Coronary illness Most recent research shows that even 10 minutes of presentation to recycled smoke cause harm to hearth and breathing issues. Because of smoking propensity the platelets in the blood gets influenced gravely that they become progressively stickier and makes the supply routes stop up the blood and may prompts heart stroke.69% of higher danger of coronary illness has been recorded in ladies in most recent research and 56% higher danger of stroke when contrasted with the individuals who are not uncovered. Youngsters and Second-hand Smoke: Youngsters are fundamentally vulnerable with the impacts which are brought about by recycled smoke in light of the fact that their bodies are so delicate and as yet creating and they inhale quicker rate than grown-ups. These conditions related with recycled smoke in youngsters: †¢Sudden newborn child passing disorder (SIDS) †¢Increased number of respiratory diseases †¢More serious and visit asthma assaults †¢Ear diseases †¢Chronic hack Smoking by pregnant woman prompts twisting of child inside. At times it might prompts unexpected labor, low birth weight, SIDS, mental impediment, learning issues, and consideration shortfall hyperactivity issue (ADHD). More the smoking by the mother more noteworthy the hazard to unborn. (WebMD, 2014). Writing audit: This paper for the most part surveys the evaluative writing on approaches and different impedances intended to forestall smoking out in the open lodging. I began about the suggestions that are identified with smoking especially who it impacts the non-smokers. At that point portrayed the arrangements which are embraced by U.S government in managing the smoking out in the open lodging. The accompanying headings were utilized: ramifications of strength of presentation to tobacco smoke in private structures, smoke free house and option to smoke. At last, in this survey, we offer a few suggestions in regards to the issue.. Ramifications of wellbeing of introduction to tobacco smoke in private structure: In excess of 250 noxious metals, synthetic concoctions have been recognized in tobacco smoke by national toxicological program (NTP) among them 11 are of class A cancer-causing agents. Numerous epidemiologic examinations had demonstrated non-smokers can be affected to lung malignancy and heart sickness when they open to tobacco smoke. The top health spokesperson had detailed that there is no viewed as protected degree of presentation. The less introduction to tobacco smoke can likewise impact the non-smokers. Especially the maturing individuals and impaired individuals with cardiovascular or pneumonic capacity increasingly inclined to tobacco smoke The rates and earnestness of asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and furthermore the pace of unexpected infant kid passing condition, are extended around kids presented to tobacco smoke.in a multiunit building a solitary individual who smokes in his unit putting different units individuals in danger. The tobacco smoke can be spread thr ough air, breaks in the divider and floors to different units of the floor. Unusual measures of tobacco toxins can hang on in the indoor condition long after the hour of dynamic smoking †a scene known as third-hand smoke. Tobacco harms are circled as flighty blends and airborne particulate issue that are put away on indoor surfaces and reemitted noticeable all around over a period of days to years. In families in which at least one people smoke, the pee levels of the tobacco-specific malignant growth causing operator nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone (NNK) are dependably higher in babies than in non-smoking adults, speaking to either a differential response to a similar toxin load or extended presentation of children through closer contact with smoke-contaminated mats, furniture, garments, and floors’. Tobacco-smoke introduction out in the open lodging is a major issue since it influences poor people and feeble masses. In 2008â€2009, 32% of families out in the open lodging included older people, 35% included weakened people, and 41% included children. The mean yearly compensation of nuclear families out in the open lodging all through this period was $13,289. Youngsters who lives out in the open lodging are perceived to be at high risk for the experimentation of cigarettes at their beginning periods. No-smoking runs in homes have been associated with liberally diminished degrees of biochemical markers of tobacco introduction and generally safe of wellbeing around non-smokers. Such methodologies can similarly engage smoking discontinuance around nuclear family individuals, debilitate the beginning of smoking by youths, and decrease the pace of house flares (Jonathan.p, 2014). Place of smoke free and option to smoke: Private Managers of multiunit private structures are beginning to respond to advertise intrigue and the chance of diminished costs by grasping no-smoking game plans. Study discoveries show that occupants are much of the time pained by tobacco smoke and that four out of five non-smokers may lean toward a sans smoke building arrangement. In Chicago a 440 unit tall development is the first in that city to confine smoking in all units, fundamental extents, and outside spaces. In Oregon, a huge property-organization association has built up no-smoking strategies for something like 8000 units. Some local governments have constrained smoking in multiunit homes concerning private ventures. Three California urban regions starting late endorsed laws blocking smoking in a few or all units of multiunit private lodging. Since 2006, around twelve different gatherings have discussed whether to constrain smoking impediments that may impact multiunit homes. In 1997, the Utah lawmaking body passed a law expressly permitting owners to blacklist smoking in private units. Despite the filed dangers of tobacco-smoke presentation, these exercises are questionable. Pundits battle that not governments or landowners should meddle with tenants opportunity to smoke and that such confinements harm insurance rights. Be that as it may, courts have held that the due-technique arrangement of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.s. Constitution, which confines government block in singular opportunity and security,

Its 2017!

It’s 2017! Happy New Year, everyone! 2016 has been shuttered into the past, and the sense I got from friends on social media was a general consensus of something like relief. It was certainly a tumultuous year on a global scale: humanitarian crisis, deeply divisive politics and high-profile incidents of terrorism were one of several dark pockmarks on the face of the bygone year. On a more personal note, it definitely wasn’t my best year, but here at its tail’s end, I find myself optimistic for 2017. There are at least two camps when it comes to a new year. The first camp sees it as a reset of sorts, a time to renew life-changing resolutions, to pursue a revitalized drive towards betterness. The second camp sees it as a largely arbitrary demarcation of time, removed from the actual content of our lives, but for a spate of fireworks, making January 1 just another day. For me, it just means that Netflix is about to add some new TV shows and movies, and I have to go shopping for microwavable popcorn. Still, I can’t pretend, in spite of the last year, to not be excited about 2017. In fact, I have access to an oracle, which has let me peek through the curtains of space and time and see the forthcoming events from the year, in at least one timeline. I present to you, my 2017 Highlights Reel! What do your highlight reels look like? ** January 1, 2017 I make my resolutions for the upcoming year: I will go to the gym everyday starting January 2. I will eat great food, less red meat and more vegetables. I will explore new music and write more stories. I’m a timeworn college senior, and I will ace my final semester! I’ve got this. January 2, 2017 I wake up at 2P.M. (school isn’t in session yet, not that this is even slightly correlated to my waking up at 2 P.M.) As I order pizza from Domino’s for lunch, I decide it’s still pretty early into the year. Heck, there’s 363 days left. 363 days. The gym isn’t going anywhere on any of those days, right? I can go tomorrow, I decide, as I settle on my bed to watch Bob’s Burgers and devour several slices of a medium-size Extravangaza Feast Pizza. This situation recurs for the next 52 weeks. February 12, 2017 It’s 3:50 A.M. on a Sunday Morning. I’m in the kitchen of my floor at Random Hall, and everyone is still up. Beantown closes in 10 minutes, and Sam is asking if anyone would like to get some burritos before they close. Kevin and Andrew are working on a gigantic rocket. I’m playing Saints Row IV on my computer. We’re all watching We are number one but every one is replaced with the entire bee movie script”  which will shortly be followed by  â€œThe entire bee movie but every time they say bee it gets faster”.  These dank videos make our floor slowly approach the theoretical limit of dankness, a limit well-defined on one of our refrigerators. February 13, 2017 It’s 3:50 A.M. on a Monday Morning. I’m in the kitchen of my floor at Random Hall, and everyone is still up. We have problem sets due in less than four hours, and we’re working over the sounds of MrMrMangoHead on Youtube. I take a five-minute break to check Facebook for messages, and spend the next hour browsing old memes on the Classical Arts meme page. The problem set is due at 7:30 A.M. I turn it in at 7:27 A.M. March 1, 2017 I’m writing a short story for my final writing class at MIT, a science-fiction class taught by  Shariann Lewitt. I’m excited about it, because I get to combine sci-fi and horror, two very blendable genres, but my brain has shut down on me, and everything I know about genes seem to have disappeared. Halfway through, I delete the whole thing, all 1,234 words, and decide to get some rest, and start again tomorrow, when my brain isn’t being such a downer. April 13, 2017 So so stuck on this problem set. I give up. I compose an e-mail to my advisor. It’s short and to the point: I’ve decided to drop out of MIT. I don’t need to be an engineer when I can be happy selling my patented Frosted Flakes Milk/Cereal mix on the warm beaches of Los Angeles. Thank you for everything. It’s silly and I decide to the delete the draft. I accidentally hit Send, because of course I do. Panic overwhelms me and I start to compose a second e-mail to my advisor, explaining that I was tired and kidding, the last e-mail was a silly mistake, ignore it, yada-yada, but I get an e-mail from him before I’m done typing. It says: Sounds good. Good luck in LA! P.S. I’m here to talk if you need me. April 14, 2017 Twitter notifies me of his new tweet. I check it out and shake my head. It’s in the news five minutes later. It’s forgotten about the next day. May 30, 2017 I still can’t process that I’ve turned in my final work for the semester. I celebrate by watching a marathon of intense horror movies. I grade each of them on an A+ to F- scale (wondering for the umpteenth time why I invented the F+. What does the F+ even mean?) The grades are maintained on a Google Sheets doc. Someday, I tell myself, historians will discover this document and will ponder its significance. June 9, 2017 It’s graduation day! Tim Cook delivers our commencement speech. Shortly after, 1000+ names are called in Killian under a warm sun (we feared rain for a while, but those fears were unfounded. MIT’s secret weather machine is a real thing, and is only turned on during Campus Preview Weekend and Graduation Day). I’m in tears when I receive my diploma. My parents are screaming wildly. They catch the whole thing on camera. I hold the paper in my hand, astonished. Nobody pinch me. I spy Chris Peterson just before I leave, and he gives me the greatest bear-hug ever. I write a sappy blog-post later that night, my penultimate one, because I’d like to hold onto the blogs for a little bit longer. And then I get very drunk to my knees and thank God for a wonderful last four years. My time at MIT is over, and those words have yet to register. June 25, 2017 I land in Nigeria. It’s my first time back home in 3 years. There’s a power outage at the airport fifteen minutes after I land, and one of the staff is arguing loudly with a pregnant woman, the latter screaming that someone in the airport must have taken the cash out of her bags. We roll through the streets of Abuja in a Toyota. Heat rashes break up on my arm and neck, because the West African sun is distinct from the Boston sun. In Boston, it exists as decoration half the time, providing no ostensible warmth, just hanging there anchored to the sky. In West Africa, it shoots volcanoes down on us. I get home and all my siblings rush to hug me. They tell me I’ve gotten taller and uglier, and I threaten to knock them senseless if they keep talking. There’s jollof rice and suya in the kitchen. I wolf the whole thing down, and for the first time in 3 years, I don’t need a bottle of hot sauce to go with my meal. Later that night, we have a big family meeting and I summarize all of MIT. It takes several hours, and my little sister passes out halfway through. “Welcome home,” one of my brothers says. It feels good to be home. I try to watch Bob’s Burgers on Netflix later that night: “This service is not available in your region.” August 26, 2017 I’m 21 years old! My family sings the “Happy Birthday” song while I look on sheepishly. When, in reply, I start to sing, “I’m 21 years old today”, my youngest brother Johnpaul cuts in: “Shut up, you can’t sing.” He’s right, but that won’t stop me from whooping his ass later that night. We eat several chicken shawarmas. At 11:00 P.M., I lay down and have a minor existential crisis. I’m 21 years old. Like, where do I go from here? September 18, 2017 I’m back in the United States. New York City. It’s my first day on the job and I’m nervous. Do I even still remember how to write code? What is Python again? Will they kick me out before I even begin? But I sit down in front of the screen, and as soon as I start typing, getting a feel for the company’s enormous codebase, it all slowly starts to come back. My racing heart calms. September 24, 2017 It’s Sunday Night. I planned on going out, but the Skype call I just had with my mom got me incredibly homesick, and so I just lay on the mattress of my studio apartment. I browse Reddit for a bit. The top post on the front page is from r/funny, but Redditors are ripping the poster to shreds. Apparently, the picture is not very funny. And is badly cropped. And is a repost. All the poster’s comments in defense of himself are heavily downvoted and I feel bad for him. Then I realize I just feel bad. It’s been less than a month since I moved to New York from Nigeria. I barely know anyone. My family is thousands of miles away. I feel very alone. September 25, 2017 It’s 1:11 A.M. Monday Morning. I should be asleep, I have work in a couple of hours, but my mind is roving all over the place. I still feel homesick. I contemplate getting some comfort food from the pizzeria opposite methey’re open till 6 A.M., and my brain is still trying to parse this beautiful existence. But I decide, perhaps blasphemously, that food won’t help. Not this time. I play Taylor Swift’s song Never Grow Up. Towards the end of the song, the lyrics go: “Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room, Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home, Remember the footsteps, remember the words said, And all your little brother’s favorite songs, I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone, So here I am in my new apartment, In a big city, they just dropped me off, It’s so much colder than I thought it would be, So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on, Wish I’d never grown up.” That part always hits me hard, and this time it’s no different. This feels a lot like my first night ever on the MIT campus. Four years ago. A lifetime ago. Just like that night, I hug my pillow tightly, taking in as much warmth from it as I can. In that position, I finally drift off to sleep. October 14, 2017 The next round of monthly bills is due: rent, electricity, Internet, Netflix, insurance. Man, this adult thing is scary. October 15, 2017 I settle into bed and pull out my phone. Time to catch up on Season 2 of Insecure. October 23, 2017 23,000 words into the new book. Slowly, surely heading there. I check my e-mails but none of the publishers have gotten back to me on my newest short stories yet. I close my laptop and press my head against it, letting out a long gush of air. November 1, 2017 I stop by the Cheesecake Factory on my way after work, even though I already had dinner, and purchase two slices of Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake. Today was an especially good day of work, and I deserve to treat myself a little bit. I decide to have one slice later tonight as I watch my shows, and the other slice later in the week, but I finish off both of them before I get to the apartment. I wash my hands in the bathroom sink and take a very long nap. I wake up at midnight, feeling completely alert, even though I have work in nine hours. I idly wonder why bad things happen to good people. November 2, 2017 It’s 3 A.M. now. I tried to sleep again earlier, but my brain chose that moment to recall in painfully exquisite detail that one time I completely and utterly  messed up a presentation at MIT  . The embarrassment is High Definition, and it won’t let me sleep. I decide to pass the time by taking a quiz on Buzzfeed. This quiz claims to let me know what kind of creature I will be reincarnated as in the next life. I get Chihuahua. You know what? I can see that. Heck, I’ll be the best Chihuahua this planet has ever seen. November 25, 2017 Nostalgia forces me to visit Massachusetts for the first time in months. It’s as good a weekend as any to visit. I stop by Random Hall, where Kevin is now a senior. He graduates in a couple of months and we both freak out excitedly over this. MrMrMangoHead is on the television when I visit. There are some new faces, but it’s still the same floor. Someone calls me “cruft” as I start to leave, and I feel incredibly old. To counter this feeling of youth, I decide I’ll go to Six Flags the next day. But Six Flags New England is closed this time of year. I can probably visit a theme park when I return to New York, but I’ve been to Six Flags three times in the past. Anywhere else wouldn’t feel the same. As I walk down Mass Ave, shivering in two jackets, I wonder if I’m too sentimental, too attached to things. I decide I probably am. December 1, 2017 On Facebook, I see a meme about what a shitty year 2017 has been. Even though, it has nothing to do with the memeat least not in any clear wayI realize that I can’t remember the last time I had all-out fun. Part of me has always been a little kid, in that sense of untamed, embarrassing silliness, and that part of me has been missing for months. Heck, probably longer. I watch an old video. Im in a poorly lit room. Ive found a pom-pom I got from the Google Los Angeles office during my internship there (we attended the Special Olympics games at USC in 2015, and cheered hard with those pom-poms). It makes for great hair. I decide I want to keep this part of me eternally alive. But I’m not sure how. December 24, 2017 It’s a surprisingly nice Sunday evening, and I decide to do a little exploring on foot. At 6:58 P.M., I pass a Tango Class building in Brooklyn. A flyer declares that classes take place every Sunday at 7:30 P.M. I wonder if they’re open, since it’s Christmas Eve. Turns out they are. I make up my mind to sign up immediately, try something new and spontaneous, even as the rest of my body recoils in horror. A half hour later, I’m paired up with a partner. She’s about my height, blonde, gives me a friendly smile. I tell her I’m nervous. She tells me first-timers usually are. “You’ll be fine,” she says. Twenty minutes later, I get too self-conscious about my dancing and I accidentally stomp her toes with my feet. As she backs away, I apologize profusely. I start to head out the door, but she tells me I don’t have to leave, dancing is hard, Ill learn. “I’m not leaving ,” I reply, which is just a big lie. “I wanna use the bathroom.” “Well it’s that way,” she says, pointing towards a different door. I thank her and walk into the bathroom, realizing that to leave this building and spare myself further embarrassment, I need to walk out of the bathroom and past the dance hall. I can’t leave without them seeing me. Try something new, Vince. Really? What were you thinking? Next time you wanna try something new, how about you stick to a new buffet restaurant in Chelsea? Or a new TV show on freakin’ Netflix. I realize that there’s a large window in the bathroom. With some force, I pry it open and make my escape into the city, abandoning my jacket. It’s a cold night. December 27, 2017 I implemented a randomized algorithm at work today that I’m proud of. Thank you, 6.046. I stop by the movies after work to watch Sharknado 6: Sharks In the White House 3D, and Spicy Memes, a movie about living, breathing, anthropomorphized memes. Both of these hold a 3% on Rotten Tomatoes. They are the best movies I have ever seen in my life. December 31, 2017 It’s 11:59 P.M. It’s the final day of the year. I’ve already spoken to Mom and Dad and my five siblings and wished them a Happy New Year, because 2018 struck them six hours earlier. We spoke via Skype, over a with a spotty Internet connection. Hearing was hard, and we had to scream at each other. My voice is still a little hoarse, but seeing their faces has me wrapped in the arms of warm content. I’m in a bar not far from Times Square, watching the countdown to 2018. As an introvert, I don’t do well with crazy big crowds. I drink some beer, pondering what my life has looked like over the last four years and what it will look like over the next ten. There’s never been a point where I had all the answers, but I think unlike 2016, this year provided more answers than questions, and that’s all I could have asked for. I’m nowhere near my peak, but there’s still much to unfold, and that has me excited. As the final seconds of the year vanish, someone plops into the seat next to me. “Happy New Year,” he says, grinning. I smile back. “Happy New Year.” **